Sunday Morning Coming Down

A Face Book Friend commented on life in Israel where there is health care is subsidized and religious education is also subsidized. The subsidy is such that both health and education have little impact on the family budget and according to Israelis education and health care is of high quality. The United States sends approximately $3 billion dollars is Israel in foreign aid. I guess the simple question is why is congress not working harder to make education and health care more accessible and of a higher quality.

The stock market is a funny place. Maybe this isn't funny but it is a sort of sad commentary about the way things are. The price of Walmart shares in the stock market were down about 11% last week and it was because they were going to pay their workers more money and as a result their profits would be lower, so say the analysts. Profits down, stock price lower.

The Cubs are about a year ahead of schedule if you were to believe all the talk during Spring Training this year. They have finished the regular season strong and tonight's game is set up for their ace, Jake Arrieta. If there ever was a time to take it one game at a time, one at bat at a time, and one pitch at a time. I can hardly wait for tonight's game to start.

Maybe the World Series is being played in the National League Central Division this year. Whoever gets out of this division has my vote for World Series Champion.  The Cubs with 96 wins and maybe a 97th today have already exceeded my expectations for the year. They may even finish in a tie with the Bucs for 2nd behind the Cardinals.  If the wheels don't fall off they will give the Redbirds a nasty fight. Finishing the regular season winning a possible eight game winning streak is great momentum for the wild card playoff. Go Cubs! You Go Girl! Last night Captivating Cara steered clear out of the gate and then drove for the win in the 7th at Prairie Meadows Race Track. Coming from PP#8 she paid $26 and change for winning the 250 yard race. Receiving some class relief she survived a very positive comment from the track handicapper to allow me to recover my loses from earlier races. And so it goes.

Sometimes taking the long way isn't a big mistake.  I knew a trip from Miami, Florida is going to be a long trip, and I didn't like the idea of driving by myself to Iowa or Oklahoma City.  I could have flown if time was an issue but these days time isn't the biggest concern. I started out for Altoona, Iowa on Sunday, 9/20/2015. I returned to Miami, Florida on 9/29/2015 and in between time I went to a horse sale at Heritage Place in Oklahoma City, and returned to Altoona, Iowa, and saw horse races at Remington Park in Oklahoma City and Quarter Horse Racing at Prairie Meadows Race Track in Altoona which isn't far from Des Moines. Quarter horse racing which I follow and participate in to a very small amount moves around the country in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Iowa and recently Florida and other states like Minnesota, and Indiana and throughout the Inter mountain West. I left Miami on this tour to escape the end of summer and to hop...

Just got back from four road trips that started in Miami, Florida and ended in Miami, Florida with a round trips from Altoona, Iowa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Leg one from Miami to Altoona.  The trip started on a Sunday Night.  The trip was mostly uneventful except for a passenger in a wheel chair.  Taking the bus for any distance is arduous, taking a six hundred mile trip in a wheel chair is kind of hard to imagine. I'm sure the drivers kind of dread this kind of passenger because of the extra work it requires and all the complications possible. There are lots potential problems and the only thing I had to say to my self over and over was: "I'm glad I'm not in that chair.  And in a related matter, mobility for the disabled is something a lot of folks would just like to ignore unless it applies to them. Bus stations are multi modal transportation hubs but sadly they are not very comfortable and can be kind of scary places if you don't travel by bus often. The...

September 9th, 2001 Gladys left Hope Hospice in Fort Myers and on the 10th was on her way back to Bensenville. I was in Fort Myers when she passed away and by the evening I was on my way back to Miami to return to work. There were a few things that needed to be taken care of before another trip to Bensenville to bury someone. You can never quite prepare for the death of a parent or close family members. At my desk I fumbled through some paperwork, listened to voice mail messages, and started looking at the e-mail to see what needed to be answered and what could wait till the afternoon. Then someone came into the office and started talking about a plane crashing into the WTC. It was almost immediately felt that this was an act of terrorism as a second plane crashed into the second tower. I wondered what could be next. Your mind does strange things at times like this. My first thought was that Mom had known something was going to happen and she wanted to get the hell out o...